LOUISIANA’S ALMENDARES NAMED FIRST-TEAM AP ALL-AMERICA

Lou Groza Award winner becomes Louisiana’s sixth AP All-American; second first-team recipient

LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns kicker and 2024 Lou Groza Award recipient Kenneth Almendares added more accolades to his resume on Monday when the Associated Press announced him as a first-team All-American.

Almendares, who has appeared on six All-America teams this season, became the fifth player in school history to be named to the AP All-America team joining two-time recipient Orlando Thomas (third team, 1993; second team, 1994), Charles Tillman (honorable mention, 2002), Kevin Dotson (first team, 2019) and Max Mitchell (third team, 2021).

The AP honor is the latest for the Clute, Texas, native, who earned first-team All-America recognition by the Walter Camp Award, CBS Sports, USA Today and Hero Sports G5. Almendares also added second-team All-America honors last week by The Athletic.

The national FBS leader in field goals made (27) and field goals made per game (2.08), Almendares was ninth in the country in field goal percentage converting of 27 of 29 attempts (.931).

On pace to become the third kicker since 2008 to lead the nation in field goals while maintaining 90-percent accuracy, Almendares was 25-for-25 on the season in field goals from under 50 yards with his lone misses on the season coming from 53 (right) and 60 (left) yards.

Almendares led the Sun Belt Conference and was 11th nationally in points scored (127) and holds both the UL and SBC career record for most field goals made (68). He also set UL career records for scoring (362) and PATs (158) along with single-season records in field goals made and points.

He had nine games on the season with 10 or more points scored, including eight straight contests. Almendares set the Sun Belt record for most field goals made in a season (27).

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LOUISIANA RAGIN’ CAJUNS ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-AMERICANS

1993 – Orlando Thomas (Third Team)

1994 – Orlando Thomas (Second Team)

2002 – Charles “Peanut” Tillman (Honorable Mention)

2019 – Kevin Dotson (First Team)

2021 – Max Mitchell (Third Team)

2024 – Kenneth Almendares (First Team)

– www.RaginCajuns.com –

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Matt Sullivan

Director of Athletics Communications

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Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns®

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email – matt.sullivan@louisiana.edu

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